Iraq: Roulement

Lord Drayson: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (John Reid) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	As part of the routine management of UK forces in the Multinational Division (South-East) (MND(SE)) in Iraq, we are conducting a roulement of forces. The lead UK formation, previously 4 Armoured Brigade, will now be provided by 12 Mechanised Brigade. The majority of forces involved in this roulement will complete their deployment by 30 May. The following units are involved
	
		
			 Currently Deployed in Iraq(TELIC 5) After Roulement (TELIC 6) 
			 4 Armoured Brigade   Headquarters and Signal   Squadron 12 Mechanised Brigade   Headquarters and Signals   Squadron 
			 1st The Queen's Dragoon   Guards The King's Royal Hussars 
			 The Royal Dragoon Guards The Light Dragoons 
			 4th Regiment the Royal   Artillery 19th Regiment the Royal   Artillery 
			 1st Battalion Scots Guards 1st Battalion Coldstream   Guards 
			 1st Battalion Welsh Guards 1st Battalion The Royal   Anglian Regiment 
			 1st Battalion The Duke of   Wellington's Regiment 1st Battalion The Royal   Regiment of Wales 
			 21 Engineer Regiment 1st Battalion The Staffordshire   Regiment 
			  26 Engineer Regiment 
			 7 Transport Regiment Royal   Logistic Corps 3 Close Support Regiment   Royal Logistic Corps 
			 The East & West Riding   Regiment/Tyne Tees   Regiment TA The East of England Regiment   TA/The Royal Rifle   Volunteers TA 
			 2nd Battalion The Princess of   Wales's Royal Regiment 1st Battalion The Royal Irish   Regiment 
		
	
	At the end of this process the number of troops in Iraq will be around 8,500—a little over 400 more than at present. The reason for this small increase is in order to allow greater effort to be put into the training, development and mentoring of the Iraqi Security Forces: this will enable them to take on ever greater responsibility for their own security and so pave the way for UK troops to withdraw.
	We will continue to consider, with the Iraqi transitional Government and our partners in the multinational force, the levels and dispositions of forces required in Iraq. If we judge that further changes to the UK military contribution would be appropriate, we will of course inform the House at the earliest opportunity.

RAF: Tornado Aircraft

Lord Drayson: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	On 1 November 2004, I informed the House that there would be a series of announcements relating to the defence logistics transformation programme. On 25 November, I set out, in broad terms, the future arrangements for military aircraft support.
	As a further development of these arrangements, I am today announcing our plans for the support of the RAF's fleet of Tornado aircraft. It is our intention to reduce the complexity of the Tornado support arrangements by placing, incrementally, where it offers best value for money for defence, contracts with BAe Systems and Rolls-Royce Defence Aerospace, leading to the eventual placement of a single support contract with each company to provide improved platform and engine availability.
	This approach has the potential to improve significantly the availability and capability of our front-line aircraft. As the next stage in this process, we are now entering into a period of detailed discussions with the companies concerned to agree acceptable arrangements to deliver these benefits.
	Formal and informal consultation with the trades unions will continue as the implementation of this strategy is taken forward.

Armed Forces: Medical and Dental Officers

Lord Drayson: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (John Reid) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The supplement to the 2005 report of the Armed Forces' pay review body making recommendations on the pay of service medical and dental officers has been published today. Copies of the supplement are available in the Vote Office and the Library of the House.
	The review body's final recommendations are to be accepted in full, with implementation effective from 1 April 2005.
	The review body recommends an increase of 3.225 per cent for all regular and reserve defence medical services medical and dental officers. The review body also recommends a pay increase of 3.225 per cent for medical and dental cadets. In addition, the review body recommends that there should be an increase of 3.225 per cent in the values of trainer pay and distinction awards. The review body has also endorsed the introduction of the defence medical clinical excellence award scheme to mirror arrangements already in place in the NHS.
	The cost of these recommendations to the defence budget will be some £4.6 million. This will be met within existing departmental expenditure limits.

Army: Future Infantry Structure

Lord Drayson: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	On 16 December 2004 my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced arrangements for the future army structure (FAS). A significant part of this work regarded the future infantry structure (FIS).
	As we work to implement FIS, it is appropriate that we examine whether the supporting infrastructure of regimental headquarters (RHQs) is correctly configured. We need to ensure that the design of the RHQs will support the future infantry. As before, they will give support to our soldiers while making the most effective use of taxpayers' money. RHQs will also continue to fulfil their remit of supporting former members of the Army.
	The infantry RHQ review has therefore been commissioned to undertake this work. It will ultimately recommend the most effective and efficient method of delivering the functions of an RHQ in order to support the future infantry. This work is due to report by the end of the year and a final recommendation is not therefore expected until 2006. The review will not include RHQ Royal Irish.
	The review will not look into museums. However, where museums are co-located with RHQs, the implications for the museums will have to be determined and weighed in consideration of options.

Defence Analytical Services Agency

Lord Drayson: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Key targets have been set for the chief executive of the Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA) for the financial year 2005–06. The targets, which build on the already high standards of service provided by the agency since its formation in 1992, are as follows:
	1. Meet at least 95 per cent of the timeliness and quality targets in the 53 service level agreements with customers and project agreements for surveys, modelling and other one-off projects.
	2. Publish the five key national statistics on time, with no major errors and with no breaches of the pre-release arrangements, and meet 95 per cent of the timeliness and quality targets for other Defence National Statistics publications.
	3. Deliver five key new products/services.
	4. At least 90 per cent of customers report satisfaction with the overall service they receive from DASA, as reported in the annual customer satisfaction survey.
	5. Make sufficient efficiency gains to provide the necessary resources to enable DASA to deliver key target 3.

Defence Communication Services Agency

Lord Drayson: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Key targets have been set for the chief executive of the DCSA for financial year 2005–06 as follows:
	
		DCSA Key Targets for FY 2005–06
		
			 Title Details Target 
			 KT 1—Service 
			 Assurance The single agency measure of performance against customer supplier agreements (CSAs). To meet an average of 98 per cent for measured services against the performance targets agreed in agency CSAs. 
			 KT 2—Service 
			 Availability The measurement of the availability of operational services to customers. To achieve an average service availability of 98 per cent for operational and business critical services. 
			 KT 3—Service 
			 Restoration The measurement of the agency's service restoration performance, To restore an average 98 per cent of interrupted services within negotiated timelines agreed to in CSAs. 
			 KT 4—Efficiency 
			 Measurement The measurement of the reduction in the average unit cost of output. To achieve an improvement in efficiency by reducing the average unit cost of output by 7 per cent over 2004–05 costs. 
			 KT 5—Project 
			 Delivery The measurement of the agency's effectiveness in introducing major complex projects. More than 91 per cent of new projects will meet their time, cost and performance targets.

Duke of York's Royal Military School

Lord Drayson: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Don Touhig) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The chief executive of the Duke of York's Royal Military School has been set the following key targets for 2005–06.
	1. To achieve an average GCSE capped points score per 15 year-old pupil of 61.
	2. To achieve 92 per cent of 15 year-old pupils gaining five or more passes graded A* to C at GCSE.
	3. To achieve an average GCE points score per candidate of 314.02.
	4. To achieve an average GCE points score per examination entry of 63.39.
	5. To generate income from the hire of school facilities of at least £14,000 and support at least eight community events.
	6. To achieve Investors in People re-accreditation in 2005–06.

Cumbria: Bellwin Scheme

Baroness Andrews: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Carlisle and large areas of Cumbria experienced exceptional storm and flood damage between 7 and 12 January 2005. Given these circumstances I am satisfied that financial assistance under the Bellwin scheme is justified. A scheme will therefore be established under Section 155 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. Grants will be paid to the authorities to cover 85 per cent of the eligible costs above a threshold, which they have incurred in dealing with the storm and flood damage.

Scout Moor Wind Farm

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My honourable friend the Minister for Energy (Malcolm Wicks) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I have decided to grant consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 to Scout Moor Wind Farm Ltd to build 26 turbines with a capacity of 65 megawatts, at Scout Moor, near Rochdale.
	My decision was taken after extensive and thorough consideration of the representations I received, both for and against consent being granted. The extensive, independent public inquiry ensured that community and environmental concerns were heard.
	I am aware that this decision will come as a disappointment to those local people who opposed the application. Conversely, the decision will be welcomed by those local people who supported the application. Today's approval takes into account the concerns raised, and includes a number of conditions recommended by the inquiry inspector to mitigate any impacts.
	This wind farm will generate clean, renewable electricity and make a vital contribution towards reducing carbon emissions and meeting the UK's international obligations on tackling climate change.
	Copies of the decision letter and consent together with copies of the inspector's report are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Lottery Funding

Lord Davies of Oldham: My right honourable friend the Minister for Sport (Richard Caborn) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am pleased to inform the House that on 24 May I formally issued the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) and the Community Fund—now operating jointly under the name of the Big Lottery Fund—with policy directions in connection with the Transformational Grants Programme. We announced our intention to establish such a programme in the National Lottery Funding Decision Document in July 2003.
	The NOF and the Community Fund applied to the Secretary of State in December 2004 to authorise the two funds to participate in a joint scheme to make transformational grants. The New Opportunities Fund (Specification of Initiative) Order 2005, which came into force on 5 April 2005, following a resolution of each House of Parliament, specified transformational grants as a new NOF initiative.
	The policy directions which I have issued to the Big Lottery Fund were subject to public consultation and will allow the fund to carry forward the best of the Millennium Commission's work. This presents an opportunity for the fund to support occasionally exciting major capital projects. These will benefit community regeneration and contribute to growth and transformation across the UK.
	I have placed a copy of the policy directions and my letter to Sir Clive Booth in the Libraries of both Houses.